Bale-tie counter.



I,GUFFY.

BALE TIE COUNTER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY I, 1916.

Patented June 25, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET II Wilma w Q ai -M l. (BUFFY.

BALE HE COUNTER. APPLICATION FILED MAE 1,1936. I v 1,270,289. Patented June 20,1918.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

wummm M W JULIUS GUFFY, 0F PEORIA, ILLINOIS.

BALE-TIE COUNTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 25, 1918,

Application filed Kay 1, 1918. Serial No. 94,774.

such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to a bale tie counting and discharging mechanism.

It is of course to be understood that there are many types of machines for making bale ties and certain of these types construct the ties by forming a loop and twist in one end of each tie and then drawing the tie out to its proper length and severing the same from a bulk of material from which the ties are being made. In practically all of the machines of the latter types there is a cam shaft which revolves once during the making of each tie and without going into the operation of the cam shaft or machine it will suflice to say that my counting and discharging mechanism is operated by this Cain shaft.

An object of my invention resides in the provision of a mechanism by means of which a predetermined number of ties will .be counted and discharged from the machine.

A further object .of the'invention resides in so constructing the device that if, for any reason a tie is not made as the machine continues to operate, the counting and discharging mechanism will be automatically rendered inoperative.

A further object of the invention resides in so constructing the device that it may be readily attached to the tie making machines without neccssitating the alteration of the machines.

With these and other objects in view, such as will appear as my description progresses, my invention comprises the combination and arrangement of parts as set forth in and falling within the scope of the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a mechan sm constructed in accordance with my inventlon showing the positions of the parts when a tie is being made and before the ties have been discharged from the mechanism;

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the positions of the parts when the machine is running but no tie is being formed;

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary end elevation, partly in section, taken from the end opposite to that shown in Fig. v3.

Fig. 5 is a top plan view, and

Fig. 6 is a detail .of the tie receptacle.

Referring to the drawing by reference characters wherein like parts are indicated by like characters throughout the several views:

I have illustrated the cam shaft 1 .of a tie making machine on the end of which a cam 2 is secured. A lever 3 is pivoted, at 4, between its ends, to a suitable support and normally extends vertically. The upper end of this lever 3 is located adjacent to the cam 2 so that each time the cam revolves the lever will be actuated. Pivotally secured to the lower end of the lever 3 is an arm 5 on which is secured a pawl 6 which extends downwardly therefrom, which pawl is adapted to engage the teeth of a ratchet wheel 7, This wheel is mounted, at 8, on a suitable supporting post 9. Mounted on an extension 10 of this post a horizontally disposed disk 11 which is located immediately below the ratchetwheel 7. Extending upwardly from this disk are a plurality of pins 12 which are located adjacent the periphery of the disk. A finger 13 extends outwardly from the ratchet wheel 7 and is adapted to successively engage the pins 12 upon the revolution of the ratchet wheel. Thus it will be seen that each time the cam shaft 1 revolves, the ratchet wheel 7 will be moved a predetermined distance. Each time the ratchet wheel completes one revolution the finger 13 will engage one of the pins 12 on the disk 11 and impart a partial rotation to the disk. Thus if there are twenty-five teeth upon the ratchet wheel 7 and ten pins upon the disk 11 as illustrated in the drawing the ratchet wheel 7 will rotate once upon each twenty-five revolutions of the cam shaft 1 and the disk 11 will be rotated one tenth of a revolution upon each complete revolution of the ratchet wheel 7.

A. receptacle is which is of trough-shape is pivotally mounted between a pair of posts 15 and to one end of the receptacle a wheel 16 is secured. A lug 17 extends downwardly from this wheel 16. A trip member which is pivoted to a post 18 on a horizontal pivot 19 engages this lug l7 and projects to a point adjacent the periphery of the disk 11. This end is provided with an undercut cam surface 20. A finger 21 extends outwardly from the disk 11 and is adapted to engage the cam surface 20 of the trip member upon each revolution of the disk so that the said memher will be disengaged from the lug 17 and the receptacle 1st will swing about its pivot to discharge the bale ties. Thus as illus trated in the drawing, the trip member will be actuated once during each two hundred and fifty revolutions of the cam shaft inasmuch as there are twenty-five teeth upon the ratchet wheel 7 and ten pins upon the disk 11.

It of course sometimes happens that for one reason or another the machine fails to make a tie and therefore it is highly desir able to at this time render the pawl 6 inoperative to turn the ratchet wheel and for this purpose I have provided the following mechanism Mounted above the cutting blade 22, which blade is conventionally represented upon the drawing, being the ordinary form used for severing the ties from the bulk of material, and upon the beam 23 which supports said blade, is a guide 2st. Movable vertically in this guide is a slide 25 on the lower end of which a roller 26 is mounted. This roller is so arranged that when the ties are being properly formed it will ride upon the ties and maintain the slide 25 in its raised position. Extending through an elongated slot 27 in the upper end of the slide 25 is one end of a lever 28 which is pivoted at 29 to a suitable support. Connected to the other end of the lever is a link 30 which extends downwardly therefrom and is attached to the arm 5. When the ties are being properly formed the end of the lever which extends through the slot 27 will be located at the upper end of the slot but should the machine continue to operate without forming a tie there will be nothing to support the roller 28, inasmuch as the tie will not pass thereunder, and the slide 25 will immediately drop so that the pawl 6 will be raised out of engagement with the ratchet wheel 7 and while the machine will continue to operate the counting and discharging mechanism will be rendered inoperative.

In order that the roller 26 may be raised after it has. dropped into the described position and after the cam shaft 1 has revolved once so that it will be in position to permit the next tie to pass thereunder, l have pivoted a lever 31 on the post 9, one end of which lever is provided with a roller 32 located adjacent the cam shaft 1 and adapted to be engaged by a cam 33 on said shaft so that the opposite end of the lever will be raised once during each revolution of the cam shaft. This opposite end 3st extends through an elongated slot 35 in the slide 25 and when the slide is in its lowermost position the lever will be located in the upper end of the slot so that upon the actuation of the lever the slide will be raised. However when the slide is in its raised position the end of the lever will be in the lower end of the slot so that upon the actuation of the lever the end of the same will ride upwardly in the slot without moving or in any way affecting the slide 25. Thus it will be seen that should the machine fail to form a tie the counting and discharging mechanism will be rendered inoperative for the period consumed in the forming of a tie but it will again be rendered operative imn'iediately upon the elapsing of said period so that when the next tie is formed it will not fail to count the same.

From the fore oing description it will be seen that I have provided a mechanism for counting and discharging bale ties and I have so constructed the device that it will. count the ties irrespective of whether or not they are continuously formed and furthermore l have so constructed the device that it may be readily attached to the tie making machines of various types.

Besides this, the device by reason of its structure may be stationed out of the way of other parts so that nothing can drop upon and interfere with its proper operation.

In bale tie machines of the known art the ties themselves after being formed are necessary elements in the operation of the counting mechanism. That is to say, each tie when finished is interposed between parts of the counting mechanism and assists in the operation thereof. The tie wire is of fairly light gage and is bent and its appearance spoiled by this 'treatniient and is thus rendered objectionable to the trade, being liable to rejection for that reason.

In my device the counting proceeds automatically by power as long as the wire from which a tie is being formed is in position beneath the slide 25. However, when the wire is not drawn to position to be formed into a tie the slide being unsupported must drop,

as explained, automatically, in turning the count. The finished tie is not subjected to abuse after its completion.

While I have illustrated and described a particular embodiment of my invention, it has merely been for the sake of convenience and I do not wish to be limited to that par ticular embodiment as it is obvious that numerous changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit of the invention or exceeding the scope of the appended claims.

\Vhat I claim is 1. Mechanism of the character described for bale tie makin machines including, in combination, counting means to be operated, an intermittently operated mechanism for actuating said means including a part adapted to normally rest against each tie in the process of forming whereby the mechanism is maintained in its actuating position, said part when unengaged with a tie adapted to move said operating mechanism to an inoperative position. I

2. Mechanism of the character described for bale tie making machine including, in combination, means to be operated, of an intermittently operated mechanism for actuating said means including a part resting by gravity upon said tie during the process of forming for maintaining said mechanism in a path of movement where it will engage said means, and adapted to fall by gravity to remove said mechanism from said path of movement when said part is unsupported by said tie.

3. Mechanism of the character described as an attachment for a bale tie making machine including, in combination, with a bale tie in process of manufacture, and means to be operated, of a part normally supported on said tie, a portion having an unremitting motion and a portion operated by it having a given path of travel for engaging said means and with which said part is operatively connected, said part when supported on the tie maintaining the second named portion in said path of travel and adapted when unsupported by the tie to remove the said second named portion from its said path of travel.

4. In mechanism of the character described for a bale tie making machine, the combination 0'! mechanism including an ac tuating portion l aving an unremitting motion and a part normally engaging each tie during process of forming, means to be actuated, said actuating portion being normally in position to engage said means, said part when not engaging a tie adapted to automatically remove the actuating part from its operative position.

5. In mechanism of the character described for bale tie making machines, the

combination with means to be operated, of mechanism including an actuating portion having an unremitting motion normally in position to engage and actuate said means and a part carrying the actuating portion normally engaging each tie during the process of forming adapted when a tie is not in position to receive it to automatically remove the portion from its actuating position.

6. In mechanism of the character described for a bale tie making machine having a cam which revolves once during the making of each tie, the combination of means to be operated in each rotation of said cam, mechanism actuated by said cam including a portion to actuate said means, a part operatively connected with said portion adapted to engage each tie during the process of forming, said part adapted to lift the portion automatically from its actuating position when not in engagement with a tie.

7 In combination with a bale tie making machine having a cam which revolves once during the making of each tie, means to be operated in each rotation of said cam, mechanism actuated by said cam including a portion to actuate said means, a part operatively connected with the portion operated by gravity normally resting upon a tie during the process of forming, said part adapted when not supported by a tie to drop and remove the said portion from its actuating position.

8. In mechanism of the character described for bale tie making machines, the combination with means to be operated, of mechanism including a portion having an oscillating unremitting motion for actuating said means, and including also a part operatively connected to the said portion adapted to rest upon a tie in the process of forming whereby the said portion is in position to engage and actuate said means, said part when unsupported by a tie adapted to fall by gravity to remove the portion from its normal actuating position.

9. In a machine for making bale ties, the combination of a cam which revolves once din-ing the making of each tie, means to be actuated, mechanism to actuate said means moved once in each rotation of said cam, a part operatively connected with said mecha nism adapted to rest upon a tie in the process of forming and while said mechanism is in position to actuate said means, said part adapted to fall by gravity to remove the mechanism from its actuating position when unsupported by a tie, and means to automatically raise said part into position to rest upon the tie.

10. In a machine for making bale ties, the combination of a cam which revolves once during the making of each tie, means to be actuated, mechanism to actuate said means moved once in each rotation of said cam, a its tie engaging position after each fall 1-0 part operatlvely connected W1th sald meohathereof.

nism adapted to rest upon a tie in the proe- In testimony whereof, I aflix my signaess 01 forming and While meohandism is ture, in the presence of two Witnesses.

5 in aosition to actuate sai means, sai part a T adsipted to fall by gravity to remove the JULIUS GUF I1 mechanism from its actuating position When Witnesses: unsupported by a tie and means having an EDWARD STUPEY, unremitting motion timed to lift the part to ARTHUR WEBER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, 7

Washington, D. G. 

